Petrol and Diesel Rate Today, 1 March: Fuel prices steady; Check rates in Delhi, Mumbai, other cities Petrol and Diesel Rate Today in Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad:Fuel prices continued to stagnate on Wednesday, 1 March 2023, keeping costs steady for about nine months now. In Delhi, petrol is priced at Rs 96.72, while diesel in the National Capital is retailing at Rs 89.62 per litre. In Mumbai, petrol is retailing at Rs 106.31 per litre, and diesel is selling at Rs 94.27 per litre. The prices of petrol and diesel change state by state, depending upon various criteria such as Value Added Tax (VAT), freight charges, local taxes, etc. The last country-wide change in fuel rates was on 21 May last year, when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slashed excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and Rs 6 per litre on diesel. Oil prices rose for a second day on Wednesday as reports of expanding manufacturing activity in China, the world’s biggest crude importer, boosted the outlook for global fuel demand. Brent crude oil for May was up 24 cents, 0.3%, to 83.69 a barrel. The April contract expired on Tuesday up $1.44, or 1.8%, at $83.89. Since the cut of excise duty by the central government in May 2022, some states have also reduced VAT prices on fuels, while some have imposed cess on petrol and diesel. The Punjab government decided to impose a cess of 90 paise per litre on petrol and diesel in a meeting of the state cabinet. Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal also announced a cess on petrol, diesel and liquor in the second full budget of the LDF government. A social security cess of Rs 2 per litre will be slapped on petrol and diesel. Public sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) including Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) revise their prices daily in line with international benchmark prices and forex rates. Any changes in petrol and diesel costs are implemented from 6 am every day. Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri recently asked OMCs to cut the retail prices of petrol and diesel if the crude oil prices in the international market come down and also if OMCs under recovery come down. OMCs incurred a loss of Rs 21,200 crore on account of selling petrol and diesel below the cost price.
Retail inflation in milk was reported at 8.85% in May 2023. The milk inflation has remained elevated at over 6% since August 2022. Despite India being the largest milk producer since 1998, the commodity has been the second biggest factor after cereals such as rice and wheat in driving up retail inflation in the last fiscal.
Milk has the second highest weight in the food and beverages basket of the consumer price index at 6.61%, a notch lower than cereals and products with a 9.67% weight. Organised players, including Mother Dairy and Amul, hiked prices multiple times in the last one year citing higher fodder cost, robust demand and some impact due to reports of lumpy skin disease.
Industry sources said feed cost, which has a share of more than 65% in the cost of production of milk, has increased to Rs 20/kg from Rs 8 a year ago. The finance ministry in April had attributed the elevated milk inflation to a demand supply mismatch and said it could be one of the factors apart from volatile international crude oil prices and constrained supplies of milk would influence the country’s inflation trajectory.
“Milk production has been impacted by a lumpy skin disease infecting millions of cattle in late 2022,” the ministry said in the monthly economic review, adding that the vaccination drive against the disease is expected to curb the spread and immune the cattle against the skin disease.
According to official data, currently India is the world’s largest milk producer, and has a share of 23% in global milk production. For the first time in decades, the country’s milk production is likely to have stagnated in 2022-23 due to Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle across several states and the lagged effect of Covid-19 in the form of stunting of the animals, a senior official with department of animal husbandry and dairying recently had stated. The milk production was estimated at 221 million tonne in 2021-22.